A New Loyalty
by Halfcent
Summary: Isaac has some unfinished business with Derek. Set anytime during season 3 after Derek throws Isaac out of the loft.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any recognizable characters. No profit is made from this fiction.**

Isaac took a deep breath, staring at the steel door. The person inside was expecting him, probably already knew he was there, but Isaac still needed that calming breath. Resigning himself to the idea that he was as ready as he was going to get, he reached out and pulled the heavy door aside.

Derek waited for him patiently. Something that was new in Derek.

"Hey," Isaac greeted quietly before stepping into the loft.

Derek gave a curt nod of greeting. Isaac was hit by the realization that maybe Derek wasn't quite ready to see him, either. They hadn't really had a chance to talk to each other since Derek had made Isaac leave the loft for good in a less than gracious manner.

Isaac had been hurt. That was what made this difficult. He wasn't afraid of Derek. Nor did he hate him. He understood, now, why Derek had run him off. But it still hurt.

"How've you been?" Derek asked. Isaac heard real concern in the older werewolf's voice.

"Good," Isaac answered honestly.

Derek nodded and an awkward silence followed until Derek took a deep breath and said "So there was something you wanted to ask me?"

"Uh...yeah," Isaac answered, shaking off his meloncholy. He stepped forward into the loft that he'd called home for almost a year and sat across from the man who had been his mentor.

Derek made a 'go ahead' gesture with his hand and Isaac wondered of Derek's newfound patience was only for Isaac. Maybe Derek felt he owed that to Isaac. Isaac would say he was right.

"There's something I'm kinda confused about", Isaac began, deciding to set aside any differences he might have with Derek. At least for the moment.

"Okay?" Derek prompted.

Isaac wasn't sure how to begin; he didn't want to push any sensitive buttons, but he needed help in clarifying his recent thoughts. "Well, it's just...okay." Isaac cleared his throat and began again. "You were my Alpha," Isaac said needlessly.

Derek nodded, no expression giving away his thoughts.

"But now you're not an Alpha at all," Isaac pointed out. "Where does that leave things? I mean, with me and you. Where does that leave me?"

"It leaves you with Scott," Derek answered firmly. Isaac detected no regret, no grief. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Yeah, but...you were the one who bit me, who turned me. Doesn't that mean something? I mean...is it possible to just kind of move on? I thought that meant there were stronger ties there. Or something."

Derek smiled, just a little. Isaac was surprised at how it softened the older werewolf's usually dark face. "You moved on before we knew Scott was a True Alpha."

Isaac wanted to feel guilty for that but he couldn't. It was true. He'd been loyal to Derek. Still was, as a friend. But it had been a while since he'd thought of Derek as his Alpha. Besides, Derek had kind of forced the issue, left Isaac hanging and in need of a tether. Scott and been there to give him something to grab onto.

He wondered if Derek felt guilty about his part in it.

"It's okay," Derek continued. "I understand why and I understand that I drove you to it." Isaac's heart sped up just a bit when he realized that Derek was going to address, at least in part, the big issue betweent the two of them. But he listened intently; it was time. "At the time, I was trying to protect you," Derek admitted what Isaac now knew but hadn't at the time. "But I knew Scott would be there." Here, Derek smiled again, an almost rueful lift of the corners of his mouth. "Scott's always there."

"Did you know?" Isaac asked, suddenly suspicious. "That Scott was turning into a True Alpha."

Derek gave a small head shake. "No. I didn't know. I did suspect. Not that he'd be a True Alpha. I didn't even know those were real stories. But I'd known for a while that Scott had the qualities of an Alpha. He's a natural leader. Even if he never became an Alpha, Scott is a person worth following."

Isaac stared. High praise from Derek. Isaac agreed whole heartedly with his assessment of their friend.

"I'm not sure when he became the True Alpha for sure," Isaac admitted. "But I sensed something. I didn't know what it was, but...something about him was different. For a while before he ever told anyone."

"As a True Alpha, if the stories I've heard are right, any werewolf can switch loyalty to him, even if they've been bitten and follow another Alpha. It's one of the few things that can change that connectio. It's not that it breaks the tie, really," Derek explained. "More like...the end of the tie that is connected to the werewolf's original Alpha is transferred to the True Alpha. Or so I've heard."

Isaac nodded, listening. He wasn't sure if Derek was the one he should have come to or not. Possibly Dr. Deaton would know more and it would be based in truth rather than unreliable stories centuries old. But Isaac had missed Derek and had felt it was time to see him. He wanted things right between them.

"In any case," Derek continued, "I'm a beta now, just like you, so any ties you'd had to me as your Alpha are purely sentimental now. Scott's your Alpha. You've embraced that. And that's good. I'm glad."

Isaac smiled, understanding that that was Derek's way of saying that, on his end at least, all was good now. Isaac did not dispute Derek's claim that Scott was his Alpha; it was true, though he'd never said the words aloud and neither he nor Scott have ever spoken of it.

"What about you?" Isaac asked Derek. "Is he your Alpha too?"

Isaac was genuinely curious; Derek had been, alternately, friend and mentor and enemy, to Scott in the past. More than anything, Derek had always been somewhat of a loner. Isaac knew Derek was counted as a friend now, but he was older and more knowlegable about their kind in general and Alpha's more specifically. Could Derek, after having been an Alpha with his own pack, now graciously be a beta under the True Alpha?

Maybe he could, since that True Alpha was Scott.

Derek shrugged. "We'll see what the future holds," he said mysteriously.


End file.
